Identifying and Overcoming Circular Economy Barriers in the Agriculture of Southwest Finland – a Gap Framework Approach

Abstract

Growing environmental pressures and resource constraints highlight the need for agricultural systems to transition from linear resource use toward circularity. Despite global interest in circular economy (CE) solutions for food systems, practical implementation at farm level remains limited. This study examines barriers to adopting CE practices among farmers in Southwest Finland and considers what these barriers imply for advancing circular nutrient and material flows. Using qualitative responses from a survey (N = 389), we applied an adapted PEST framework together with conventional content analysis to inductively classify reported barriers. We then organised these barriers within a gap framework, linking them to perceived gaps between farm-level practices and the policy, market, and infrastructural conditions required to implement circular economy solutions. Farmers most often highlighted inadequate financial steering and high upfront costs, bureaucracy and restrictive regulation, limited local partners and underdeveloped exchange systems for recycled inputs, and agronomic and practical concerns. Overall, the responses suggest that adoption is constrained not only by farm-level willingness or knowledge, but by system-level lock-ins such as weak markets and logistics for recycled inputs and incentives that favour linear solutions. The study contributes to the CE literature by showing how structural barriers are experienced at farm scale and by illustrating the value of integrated barrier analysis for agricultural CE transitions. Based on the reported constraints, the results point to the need for more coherent incentives, reduced administrative burden, and market- and service-system development to support CE adoption in Southwest Finland and comparable contexts.